Unravelled
by KawaiiKitsuneGirl
Summary: Sarutobi had everything planned out for Naruto, everything the boy had asked him for and more. Naruto was going to be the best ninja that ever lived, he would make sure of it. It was just a shame that Naruto had a different career choice in mind.
1. Prologue

A/N: Hello any readers! This is my new story, and it's gonna be much more cracky than the last one. I have no decided pairings- probably yaoi though- and this story will last around 50k. I'll do my best to update weekly, normally with 2k chapters, this is a taster, so if it is enjoyed, follow my story and wait for the next update! Reviews much liked, but not expecting any until I get this story going a lil bit more :)

Enjoy!

* * *

"Hey there Naruto-chan," Sarutobi smiled genially down at the bubbly boy.

"Hi jiji!" Naruto yelled enthusiastically, settling down happily on one of the elderly Hokage's legs. Sarutobi grinned and bent over to ruffle the short, blonde hair of the six year old, his wrinkled fingers practically larger than Naruto's entire face.

"Woah…" the young jinchuriki stared in awe at the fingers, letting go of the first limb and falling with a small thump backwards onto the ground. He yelped in surprise, scrambling up onto his tiny feet and pouting unhappily at the floor.

The older man chuckled quietly, knowing that Naruto probably didn't want his pout to be taken as anything but outright hatred for the ground that had clearly wronged him, but the Hokage couldn't help but find the expression cute on the little boy's face.

"Ji-ji," Naruto whined, crouching down and poking at the ground with a tentative finger. "It hurt me," he frowned again, cocking his head to the side in order to give the floor a primitive version of a scrutinising gaze.

"No, Naruto-chan. You fell over," Sarutobi laughed lightly, crouching down to guide Naruto's tiny hand away from his enemy and instead take the limb in his own, far cooler hands.

Naruto yelped again. "Jiji! No! Cold!" he exclaimed and yanked away his hand, scampering around the man to hide behind his robes and use them as some kind of blanket to warm him up a little.

"I'm sorry about that, Naruto-chan," the Sandaime apologised with an amused smile as he stared fondly down at the boy.

The blonde haired boy pouted another time, his big blue eyes staring accusingly up at Sarutobi, who just laughed at him and picked him up from the floor.

"Woah!" Naruto cried, taken by surprise, but once he had gotten some inkling of his surroundings again, he settled down comfortably to see where the man was taking him. "Jiji, where we going?" he asked cheerfully, staring out at the houses as Sandaime stepped out and away from Naruto's own apartment.

"We're going to see some people about a very important day in your life," Sarutobi teased the boy with the information, tickling Naruto's whiskered cheek lightly and then sweeping the two of them up onto the rooftops in one fluid motion, startling the ANBU guards that followed both the younger and the elder around, and forcing them to speed up in order to continue their watch.

"Faster! Faster!" the jinchuriki cheered as the Sandaime used his chakra to transport the two of them quickly back to the Hokage tower, where the 'special people' were waiting for them. The elderly man rolled his eyes lightly at Naruto's words, but complied with the orders set for him and used the shunshin no jutsu to transport him and his young charge from rooftop to rooftop as fast as the wind blew.

"Yay!" Naruto whooped as the wind whipped up his soft blonde hair, setting it into spikes even wilder than his usual hair style, but he was six years old. He couldn't care less what he looked like.

Sarutobi, on the other hand, paused on the roof outside the office to quickly smooth it down a little before anyone else saw the boy and commented on his mildly insane appearance. He also had to catch his breath quickly, even if he wouldn't admit it, since the shunshins had never been his speciality and the old man had wasted far too much chakra on each of the teleportations.

He silently vowed that as Naruto began to learn the ways of the ninja, he would continue to learn and possibly revise a few of his own basics, or the young boy would soon be outperforming him- at least in terms of chakra and stamina he would.

Sandaime shunshined into the main room of the Hokage tower.

"Naruto-chan, we're here," Sarutobi alerted the boy that had been sitting peacefully in his arms, ignoring the people in front of him for a moment. At the words though, Naruto immediately began to wriggle and squirmed out of the Hokage's arms in favour of staring at the three people that stood there, staring up at the tall figures in awe before scuttling back to his safe spot next to the Hokage.

"These are the people who will be responsible for teaching you how to be the very best ninja, Naruto-chan. Are you prepared to learn from them?" Sandaime crouched down awkwardly, and explained to the boy.

"Ninja? But jiji, I don't want to be a ninja," Naruto pouted, his lower lip wobbling at the thought of it.

"What do you mean? What else did you have in mind?" Sarutobi asked in confusion, knowing that it was Naruto who had begged for a ninja teacher only a couple of months before. He'd thought that the boy would be ecstatic at the news that he would finally be getting a teacher, but the idea that Naruto didn't want to be a ninja was almost inconceivable. Imagine, the son of both the Yondaime and the princess of whirlpool, who was also the holder of the Kyuubi no kitsune, being a civilian.

"I want to be a- a-" Naruto spoke up proudly, but unable to pronounce whatever word it was he was looking for.

"A teacher? A shop keeper?" Sandaime tried, wondering what other jobs Naruto would know of.

"No, no, not boring!" Naruto laughed at the Hokage, and went back to finding his word.

"Oh! I want to be an art- ist!" the boy proclaimed with a satisfied grin.

"An artist? What kind of artist?" Sarutobi prodded in utter bemusement at the turn this day had taken.

"An art-ist who- who sews! A sewy art-ist!" Naruto beamed up at the four adults, two of which were staring at Sandaime with cold looks after he forced them to appear in his office that day with promises of a young student, only to find that not only was the student actually the Kyuubi jinchuriki, he also didn't even want to be a ninja.

"A- tailor?" the Hokage pieced together.

"Yeah! Like Leiko-san!" Naruto grinned again, his small tongue protruding from the middle of his smile in his enthusiasm for tailoring.

"Leiko…san?" Sarutobi grimaced, and sat down with a rather loud thump at his desk.

How had this even happened?

* * *

"Naruto-chan? Could you tell me where you met this…Leiko-san?" the Hokage asked the small boy, steeping his long fingers in front of him and smiling painfully at Naruto.

"Uh…I think…" Naruto responded quickly, but uselessly. "I saw him…oh! He was outside one of the shops!"

"Outside one of the shops?" the Hokage asked deceptively lightly, and Naruto nodded vigorously.

"Uh huh! He was wearing these really cool clothes and…um…"

"And that's where you met Leiko-san?" Sandaime pressed.

"Yup!"

"Did you see him again afterwards?" the elder man asked, but Naruto shook his head firmly.

"No…he told me to go back to school… but I don't want to go to school!" he pouted, and the Third sighed in relief. At least Naruto wasn't in contact with the unknown man any longer.

"Wait, Naruto-chan, why do you want to be a tailor then?"

"Because his clothes were awesome!"

"I see," Sandaime chuckled, seeing now that Naruto's sudden change in career was just a six year-old's indecisiveness and not anything to be drastically worried about.

He decided there and then that it was still going to be worthwhile to enrol Naruto in the ninja academy.

The elderly man looked back down at the blonde boy and saw him yawn, and he himself glanced at the clock to see that it was getting quite late and that Naruto probably needed to be on his way home around now.

"It's getting late, isn't it Naruto-chan," he smiled gently at the boy, who pouted and couldn't help but yawn again.

"I think you should be getting home now, and getting a good night's sleep, okay? I need to do some work," the Hokage stepped out from behind the desk and hugged the little boy, still ignoring the three men who stood on the side, having not yet been dismissed but being ignored all the same.

"Okay jiji! I can get home all by myself!" Naruto boasted cheerfully, and Sandaime smiled down at him, a little sadly but the blonde never noticed.

"I'm sure you can Naruto. I'll come meet you tomorrow for some ramen?"

"Yes please jiji!" the jinchuriki bounced enthusiastically and ran out of the door.

"Be careful!" the Hokage called after the excited figure, who was already long gone, and he shook his head fondly. The gaki might infuriate him sometimes, but he did love the boy really.

Little did he know that at that very moment, Naruto was standing outside the Hokage tower and looking up to the sky with a wistful expression in his eyes.

"I'm sorry I lied to you jiji…" he muttered under his breath, exhaling in a manner that was far more grown up than any behaviour he had exhibited to his adopted grandfather.

"It's for the best," he comforted himself, and walked away.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: Thx to my first two reviewers! Glad that some people enjoy my story :)

Second chapter, 2k and hopefully setting the standard for future chapters. I'm writing some of this for camp Nano, so there'll be a fair bit this month but less frequent chapters afterwards! Hope this is enjoyed tho- oh, and I added more to chapter 1, so go check that out if you want. Not essential, but might be helpful

* * *

"And stay out, you bakemono!" the woman yelled at Naruto, watching with satisfaction as he sprawled on his back outside the shop.

"Please?" the small boy pleaded, holding out a small purse with money and looking longingly at the apple that the civilian held.

"No! This is people food!" she laughed incredulously, and slammed the back entrance closed.

"Imma person…" Naruto muttered sadly, looking down at his knees with a sigh. He ignored the dirty alley that he was now sat in, far too familiar with them to be bothered anymore, but shifted slightly so he was no longer soaking his limbs in the filthy puddles that lined the edges of the 'street'.

"One day…I'll show them all," the blonde boy whispered to himself, the tone weaker than usual but the intent still there.

He grinned at nothing and stood up tall, only to be knocked back down to the ground again. Naruto looked up in anger, ready to yell, but was immediately sidetracked by something strange in front of him.

It was material, right in front of his eyes, but not just any old material. It was fine, rich clothing that didn't fray or wear down easily, but instead was embroidered in a navy blue and occasional dots of bright red, patterns that Naruto had never seen before and desperately wanted to see again.

It looked soft to touch as well, so the boy obliviously put out his small hand and stroked the fabric, gripping hold of it to see if it was elastic-y in addition to everything else and-

"Get off my trousers," the tall person snapped, pulling the material away from Naruto before glancing down at the mucky child.

"But- they're so pretty!" Naruto gaped at the clothing, open mouthed. He'd never seen anything that fine before, not even amongst the rich side of the village.

"Hm. Of course they are. I made them," the man said snootily, and swept on past.

"Woah…" the small boy's mouth dropped open and he stared up in awe. "How did you do that!?" he exclaimed, and the man finally deigned to look down at the child, and his eyes narrowed at the state the other's clothes were in. Naruto was, due to no fault of his own (aside from the mud), dressed in a faded white t-shirt and too big denim shorts that fell down whenever he moved, so he'd tied a knot in the side to make it stay up. The materials were coated in a thick layer of mud and dirt, and were also damp from the puddles Naruto had fallen into at various intervals that day.

The man pursed his lips, but didn't comment on it.

"…It's a long and arduous process. It involves copious amounts of time, dye, thread, material and money," answered the taller one.

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked.

"It means you should leave me alone," he responded, dismissing the little orphan from his mind and turning away.

"But you're talking to me!" the blonde protested with a pout.

"You aren't listening," the man cut off curtly.

"I am! I just…don't understand the words you use," Naruto admitted, scuffing the ground lightly with the tip of one of his boots.

"Well then, come talk to me when you learn how to talk," the finely dressed man stated in a tone of finality.

"Where do you live?" the jinchuriki responded immediately, knowing that he wanted to come back and talk to the nice man some more.

"My shop is in the second alley off the high street, by the greengrocers," the man told the boy with a smirk, as if thinking that nobody was going to bother to go to a shop to chat to some random person they bumped into on the street.

"I'll be there in a month!" Naruto grinned. "I'll go to the library and sneak out a dictionary to learn from! You'll see!" he promised, and the man looked down at him again with a hint of surprise.

"I'll be seeing you then. Good luck," Naruto's new friend wished coldly, and stepped away with a brisk stride, but the young jinchuriki had one more question.

"Wait! What's your name?"

"My name? I am called Leiko," he allowed, nodding very slightly at the child, then swept away, leaving Naruto behind on the edge of the pavement, but the boy was by no means unhappy.

Naruto grinned, and punched the air. He had a friend!

"I can do it," he whispered determinedly. "I'm going to do this,"

* * *

"Why…" Naruto moaned to himself, a mere three hours later.

He was in the alley behind the library, clutching a small pamphlet of something (it was religious; Naruto was uncertain what it was talking about. He was only using it to learn to read a little faster anyway, he wasn't particularly interested in the meaning of the types of words it used)

"Why did I choose to do this?" Naruto asked himself again, pouting unhappily at the leaflet and slumping against the wall. "I could just go play in the park…" he argued with himself, trying desperately to get out of going into the library.

Unfortunately, he was unable to argue himself out of it. Naruto had given his word that he would learn more words and Naruto was a boy who always kept his promises, no matter what.

"Why did I promise?" he whined again, hitting his fists into the ground next to him then cringing away as he realised he had accidently punched a puddle, soaking his fist and causing the water to fly up towards him and spatter his clothes with the dirty muck.

"Oops!" he yelped, jumping to his feet and trying to brush the liquid off of himself. "Oops!" he yelled again as the stain not only didn't come out, but also became bigger.

"Uh…" he said with wide eyes, looking at the magically growing stain, then deciding that the best course of action was probably just to ignore it and hope it went away.

It wasn't like anyone would yell at him for that anyway.

Naruto looked at his clothing, then down at the dirty ground he sat on. He slowly picked up his useless leaflet, placing it on top of someone's dustbin with a quiet sigh, then straightened his back and lifted his chin, showing the world that he was ready for it.

"Okay," he told himself. "I can do this. Walk in, find a book on reading, and walk out," he nodded firmly.

If Naruto had been a little bit older, he might have thought to himself about the irony of there being a book on reading, but Naruto was still a young child and so he didn't even consider what the issues of his chain of thoughts were, let alone what name they could be given. Unfortunately for a certain giant fox, one day Naruto would be the type of person to absent-mindedly comment on it and give the old and possible wise creature many headaches that would cause the demon to curse the day Naruto learnt so much about life.

Luckily, said giant fox was currently asleep and so would remain oblivious for a little bit longer.

He stepped out from the alleyway, back onto the main street and ignored the dirty look he got from a blonde woman that he sort of stepped on the toe of, and marched towards the library doors.

They opened automatically ahead of him, a thing which Naruto found pretty cool but was not going to deter him from his goal, and he walked right on to the desk at the front of the library. The entire space was cool and painted with light brown, almost beige paint and gave of a feeling of calm neutrality, whilst the desk in front of him was a dark grey that caught the eye, but didn't overtly distract one from the books that surrounded the small area.

"Um…hi," Naruto whispered, suddenly shy as he approached his goal.

The person behind the desk looked up slowly, long brown hair obscuring their eyes, and Naruto shrank back in fear that they too would reject him.

However, Naruto was in luck this time.

"Hey there, little one. What can I do for you?" the girl said in a friendly manner, and he relaxed as he noted her cheerful grin and warm eyes. The blonde's mouth fell a little open at the latter, seeing that she actually was willing to talk to him, and maybe wasn't even just tolerating him?

No, he shouldn't hope for too much.

"I….I was looking for a book?" he began softly, looking down at his feet as the warm eyes became too much to look at.

"You've come to the right place," she smiled back at him gently, and gestured to the bookshelves that stood all around them. "Any particular book?" the teenager asked again, and the blonde winced awkwardly as he realised he didn't really have a clue what he was looking for.

"A book on…well…I was looking for a book to teach me how to read," he admitted shyly, peeking up at the girl through his long bangs as he hoped she wouldn't find it too out of the ordinary.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, sounding a little surprised, and Naruto knew that that was it. He wasn't going to be allowed to stay here with the friendly librarian. "I'm not sure that we have any books on how to read…it sort of defeats the point, you see?"

He bit his lip. "Sorry," Naruto apologised, and turned away, but the librarian called out to him.

"Hey, how about you come over here and I'll teach you a little bit?" she offered, pulling a hair band off of her wrist and pulling her long brown hair up and behind her. He glanced absent-mindedly at her outfit; a pretty red dress with a green vest pulled over the top, and Naruto suddenly realised that she was a shinobi.

Why was she being so nice to him? Was she going to hurt him if he went near? That was surely the only reason she wanted him to actually go near her- nobody wanted him near them. She was surely as old as the adults who glared at him, not even one of the children that he could play with sometimes when there was no one else in the park, so what was she thinking?

She was going to hurt him.

He stepped back quickly at his realisation, heart pounding, but the blonde forced himself to be calm.

"Really?" He asked suspiciously, and she beckoned him forwards again.

"Really," she promised, and smiled again at him.

"I don't believe you," Naruto hissed, seeing through the fake smile to the weapon that flashed dimly in her pocket, and he knew he was right.

"What do you mean?" she pretended to be confused, and Naruto growled lowly.

"You can't trick me! I know what you want!" he cried, and she glanced behind them to smile apologetically at someone else in the library, clearly stopping them from investigating the situation, although he didn't know why she bothered. The other would have surely just joined in with the punishment.

"What do I want?" she mocked, red eyes flashing in a foreign emotion.

"You want to hurt me!" he accused, and she recoiled as she was found out

"No! I would never hurt you!"

"Liar," he hissed, and turned away from her.

"Look…I don't want to hurt you. I could-" the other began, and Naruto sniffed derisively at whatever tactic she was trying to use to get him on her side of the desk, but then stiffened as he felt some kind of cold metal at his neck. He looked down nervously to see a knife at his throat, diamond shaped and held by a smooth hand with purple nails, but all of a sudden the pressure was gone.

He whirled around to see the woman right behind him. "What was that for?" he yelled, and she held her hands up innocently, the dagger-type thing gone.

"That was to show that if I wanted to hurt you, I would have already. _I don't want to hurt you_ ," she explained, and Naruto looked up at her, scrutinising her open face.

"You promise?" he asked, and she nodded firmly.

"I promise,"

"And you aren't allowed to break promises!" he added, slowly turning back towards the desk.

"Of course not," she smiled softly, back behind the desk, and he began to smile slightly back.

"Thank you…I'm Naruto," he blurted out. The boy flushed awkwardly as he realised that he had chosen to wrong time to introduce himself, but the other didn't seem to mind.

"Nice to meet you, Naruto-kun," she grinned. "I'm Kurenai. Do you want to come sit here and I'll see what I can teach you?"

"Okay…sensei," Naruto grinned mischievously, and she smiled down at him.

"You're welcome,"


	3. Chapter 2

Hey all two of you who reviewed my story, still love ya! To my few silent lurkers, enjoy the new chapter!

Warning: I have no idea where this story is going. I'm dropping hints everywhere, but they are also for myself, so please comment if there are any pairings or scenes or characters I should include! Thanks J enjoy

* * *

"Bye, Kurenai-san!" Naruto yelled happily, waving back at the brown haired ninja from the doors of the library. Outside, the sun was setting, a sign of how long Naruto had spent in the library, and it leant its bright light to Naruto's face and made him veritably glow in the dimming light.

Inside, Kurenai waved back with a cheerful grin that had been tempered into being by Naruto's excitable nature. The boy had been shy at first, unwilling to quite believe that she actually wanted to be near him, but had soon relaxed into his normal, over excited and fairly hyper attitude that she had found endearing, if a little frustrating to try and teach.

The two of them had persevered none the less, and had begun to read through one of the books right in the kids section of the library, which Naruto was initially embarrassed about until Kurenai-sensei confided in him that she still read some of the books there, since she found they had better stories than many of the more mature books. He hadn't learnt much- maybe a few letters- but it was much more than he knew originally so he was happy. She had even said that he would learn the alphabet within the week, so Naruto thought that meant they were making good progress (though he couldn't be certain).

Naruto beamed at his new teacher one last time, and stepped away from the now comforting walls of the library and back out into the streets. He had really lucked out that Kurenai-sensei had been at the desk this time, considering what had happened the first time he had gone to the library (and it was that event that had put him off ever going back there again) but he was truly glad he did.

He hummed happily as he walked away, taking care to avoid the deeper puddles that still remained from the previous day's rain, and even smiling back at the disapproving faces that sent him their customary glares. They couldn't hurt him.

Kurenai had also set him a small task to do before their next lesson- she wanted him to complete some kind of worksheet, which he had initially protested on the basis that he couldn't read the instructions, but she had just laughed in the face of his protests and told him that he could fill in the blanks easily enough.

Naruto was sure that he wasn't learning reading and writing in quite the right order, but he had no real protests. He was sure that this method had to be faster, and he was six! He could handle this, unlike the little children that he saw running around.

He clutched the small paper sheet in his hands, determined not to let it drop and be ruined by something on the streets. He was going to make Kurenai-sensei proud, he could do the sheet tonight and bring it back to show her tomorrow, he was going to learn to read in super quick time-

"What are you doing here, little bakemono?"

The blonde looked up quickly, not noticing the man standing outside a dingy pub in the same little side alley until it was too late.

"Me?" he asked quietly, checking behind him just in case there might have been someone else there with them, but oddly enough it was only the pair of them outside.

"Yes, you. Don't play innocent with me, I can see through your lies," the man sneered down at him, and Naruto blinked, slowly edging backwards and away from the potential pain that he could sense coming his way.

The tall person laughed at his attempt, striding forwards easily, but then stopping and wobbling slightly and it was then that Naruto realised that the other was drunk and not fully in control of his actions.

That made him dangerous.

Normal people steered clear of hurting him, he knew that, if only because of jiji, but there had been a few people in the past who had forgotten the consequences and chased him, punished him for something that he wasn't sure he had done, but they all refused to believe that they had the wrong person.

"I- I think you've got the wrong person," Naruto tried anyway, taking another step back and carefully folding his worksheet into a small square and tucking it into his pocket (what was left of it anyway).

"The wrong person?" the man snorted, and stepped closer to the jinchuriki, who could barely stop himself from trembling as he saw just how much taller the other was, flitting his eyes around to see where the exits actually were, and only relaxing a little as he noted that his back was to the exit and he could easily escape if he needed to.

Naruto was beginning to think that leaving was a very good idea.

"Come here, demon gaki, and I'll show just who's got the wrong person," the man slurred a little bit, but was aware enough to launch himself forwards and Naruto fled.

He took off down towards the exit, ignoring the stumbling man who followed him haphazardly, and darted out of the darkness like a bullet, hurtling down the brighter street and accidently running into a woman with bags on her arms, causing her to drop them and shout at him.

"What was that for!?" she yelled, glaring at him as she painfully bent over to pick up the heavy bags, and Naruto shot her an apologetic look.

"I'm so sorry," he called back, already on his way again as he hoped that the man was far enough away not to catch him, and sprinting into the next side alley, running back to the original place in the friendly grid system he knew was in place in the more modern part of Konoha, around the shops where they were.

He chanced a look behind him and saw no pursuers, so he dared to slow his pace to a hurried walk and doubled back into the original alley. At the top end of the street Naruto saw the original man, shaking his fist at something in the distance, but no longer chasing him.

The blonde breathed out a trembling sigh of relief and slumped back into the alley set behind his original one, ignoring the puddle he had once again managed to fall into in favour of watching the sky, where the sun was just setting in the distance.

The dirty water soaked into his pants and Naruto let it uncaringly, before he shot upright again. His worksheet!

He pulled it frantically out of its broken pocket, hoping that the water hadn't reached it, but his heart sank as he saw that it was dripping wet and looked likely to fall apart the second he tried to open it again. Naruto sighed in misery, knowing that Kurenai-sensei was going to be mad with him, but also knowing that there was nothing he could do.

The only adults who might be able to sort it out would be jiji or Kurenai, and it was too late for one and the other he simply didn't know where she lived, or what she would be able to do.

Naruto hung his head and kept hold of the paper anyway, thinking that he might be able to dry it when he got home, and sadly stood up, muscles aching after their sudden exertion.

He needed to get home.

* * *

The young boy reached his house relatively quickly, surprised himself at how well he had managed the journey.

He looked down at his pocket, where the mangled sheet was, and sighed. The parchment was still sopping where it had been accidently soaked in puddle water, so he gingerly took it out his pocket and placed it on the table, staring at it intently as though it might explode.

Naruto still wasn't sold on the whole learning thing, if he was being honest, it was all quite a spur of the moment thing. Leiko-san had been the second adult in his life to offer him advice, and the blonde thought that the advice seemed to be worth taking.

That didn't mean he was automatically a genius.

"What do I do now though?" he asked himself quietly, turning to the plant in the corner of the room and staring at that too. It didn't move, much to the young boy's surprise, and he resumed his inspection of the wodge of paper with an ever growing expression of woe.

"Ne…Neko-san, can you make this better?" he asked the thin air, poking the lump again and turning away from it, hearing nothing but not daring to look back for a few minutes (which was still a little tight, considering Cat's sharp personality) and sighing in misery as the paper was still lodged in a wet clump on the table.

"Fine, fine," he grumbled under his breath and got up from the sole chair, wandering into the bathroom and using the toilet before he even noticed the open window.

"Huh," the boy thought to himself, staring at the size of it. The open space looked just large enough for a child to crawl through, or big enough to fit an A4 sheet, and the blonde wondered if hanging the worksheet up there would help dry it, or if he was going to be better off just going to bed.

He decided to try anyway, thinking that it wouldn't hurt, but his sole plan was thwarted when the space ended up too high to reach.

Naruto pouted in the other corner of the room and told his plant that he was going to grow one day. He doubted even it believed him.

* * *

"I'm sorry Kurenai-sensei…but my sheet kind of got a little bit wet,"

"It's okay Naruto-kun," the kunoichi smiled, but the younger blonde didn't see it.

Naruto kept his head down as he mumbled the next sentence.

"Sorry Naruto-kun, I didn't hear you," Kurenai told him apologetically, then frowned as he repeated his statement again.

"Can I have five minutes?" the boy muttered, looking up through his lashes at his former teacher.

"Whatever for?" she asked, surprised.

"To get away," Naruto whispered, and she looked down at him in sadness, wondering what situation he'd been in that made him think she would hurt him for dropping a worksheet.

"No," she said, and he sprang upright again.

"Please!" he begged, leaping away a step and twitching his fingers into his pocket for something, but not taking his hand out of the fabric.

"Naruto! I'm not going to hurt you! I promised, remember?" she yelled, softening her tone only slightly at the end and a half sob broke out from Naruto's lips.

"I always knew it was a lie!" he yelled right back, brandishing the glass at her one last time, then throwing it aside in favour of running back to the door.

Kurenai sighed, wondering if Naruto realised just how similar this situation was to what had taken place only a few days ago, when she had first become his teacher.

She body-flickered over to the boy, grabbing him and forcing him into a chair.

"No, you listen to me," Kurenai hissed, her red eyes flashing in menace and it suitably cowed Naruto.

"I will never hurt you, no matter what you do. The worst I can do Naruto, is be disappointed in you," she said, sort of gently but still in a manner totally wrong for children of Naruto's age, not that either of them were aware of that.

There was silence for a few seconds, in which Kurenai began to worry that she'd gone wrong somewhere, and that suspicion was only confirmed when Naruto did indeed begin to move.

To laugh.

His laughter echoed around the quiet room, disturbing a few people but not that many visited the library in one go anyway, and so it ended up being Kurenai instead who silently freaked out, staring a little out of her depth at the hysterical young blonde.

"Naruto? Do you need a hospital?" she asked pointedly, hiding any turmoil she might be feeling, but Naruto just grinned up at her. She entertained the notion that the other, subdued Naruto was just an act and that maybe the Kyuubi was here in the flesh after all, but knew she needed more proof than that to pass judgements.

"Nope," the boy grinned cheerfully, calming down on the laughter but still smiling eerily and it took Kurenai far too long (in her opinion) to realise that the happiness was still just a mask.

"Do you need a friend?" she asked again, eyes flashing in sympathy when Naruto stiffened and lowered his head again, giving up the façade again.

"…No," he whispered to the floor.

She smiled.

"What about a sensei?" the brown haired woman asked, warm smile back in place, and Naruto felt strangely comforted by the sight of it.

"I don't need one..." he trailed off, but Kurenai understood what he was saying anyway.

"Well, you've got one. Settle down, Naruto-kun, and we can do this worksheet instead," she ruffled his hair.

Naruto's head shot up and his cerulean eyes stared into hers desperately, searching for something although she didn't know what. After a few seconds he seemed to find it because he stopped, bowed his head lightly, and then looked up again at Kurenai.

"Okay," he agreed, but this time there was something steely behind his eyes and tone that Kurenai liked.

They were the makings of a true ninja.


End file.
